Following Israel’s dramatic airstrikes on Syria on Saturday, seen by many as a “dramatic escalation” in regional tensions, and the most direct threat against Tehran in years, over the weekend Iran unveiled a series of new homemade nuclear-capable ballistic missiles during military parades, in a move that experts said was a bid to bolster the hardline ruling regime while cautioning Israel against any further escalation.

Describing the missile, Iran’s state-run Fars news agency described one of the rockets, the Ghadr, as a 2000km-range, liquid-fuel and ballistic missile which can reach territories as far as Israel.

The missile can carry different types of ‘Blast’ and ‘MRV’ (Multiple Reentry Vehicle) payloads to destroy a range of targets.

Meanwhile, the new version of the Qadr H ballistic missile “can be launched from mobile platforms or silos in different positions and can escape missile defense shields due to their radar-evading capability.”

As the Washington Free Beacon adds, Iranian military leaders rolled out the latest ballistic missile technology, which includes a nuclear-capable medium-range missile that appears to share similarities with North Korean technology on the heels of an encounter between what Israel claimed was an Iranian drone and Israeli forces.

The missiles are capable of reaching Israel even when fired from Iranian territory, raising concerns about an impending conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state that could further inflame the region.

While it was meant to deter further aggression by Israel, the demonstration of nuclear force by Iran could further inflame tensions between the two countries. Concerns that this nuclear-capable technology could be shared by Iran with its terrorist proxies are fueling longstanding concerns among the Israelis that an attack is imminent.

Iran’s ruling regime continues to invest millions of dollars it received as part of the landmark nuclear deal with the United States on its military technology, specifically ballistic missiles, which are subject to a ban under international statutes, even as Iranian dissidents continue to protest over the country’s ailing economy. According to conservative estimates, the Iranian regime has spent at least $16 billion in recent years on its military buildup and rogue operations in Syria, as well as other countries.

Some more details on the newly unveiled weapons: the two new nuclear-capable missiles unveiled over the weekend by Iran include the Ghadr missile, a medium-range rocket that was recently modified and upgraded by the Islamic Republic.

“The Ghadr can strike Israel when fired from Iranian territory, and in March 2016, was flight-tested while bearing genocidal slogans against the state of Israel,” according to Ben Taleblu, who has researched Iranian missile procurement.

Iranian military leaders also rolled out a rocket called the Fajr-5, which is becoming a new favorite of Iranian-backed terror proxy groups operating against Israel.

“The Fajr-5 is an Iranian rocket that has been proliferated to anti-Israel groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. It can travel up to 75 km, and is therefore a long-range artillery rocket. It uses solid fuel for propulsion,” Ben Taleblu explained. “Both the Qadr missile and Fajr rocket represents Iran’s commitment to developing stand-off weaponry that it uses for purposes of deterrence and coercion.”

333MM FAJR 5 (M-75)

As the Free Beacon notes, the new weaponry “could fuel ongoing efforts by Congress to crackdown on Iran’s continued proliferation of ballistic missile technology, a large part of which has been incubated by the North Korean regime, which continues to have a technology-sharing agreement with Tehran.”

Iran already has the region’s largest arsenal of ballistic missiles and is seeking to continue building this technology.

Cover image: Older model of the Ghadr missile fired from Alborz province on 9 March 2016.

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